Agtech - So What?

Mark Wootton is well-known in the Australian agriculture industry as a pioneer in carbon-neutral farming. In 2011, Jigsaw Farms, his family property in south-west Victoria, achieved carbon neutrality - undergoing a process he openly admits was at the time, both "arduous and not necessarily commercially rewarding".

Yet, Mark and his wife Eve Kantor operate a very successful mixed grazing farm where they run 20,000 sheep for fine wool and prime lamb as well as 500 cows. The farm also incorporates a 600 hectare hardwood timber plantation and indigenous plantings for biodiversity.

Mark was instrumental in the creation of the Climate Institute - a not-for-profit focused on climate science and policy in Australia. He remains a champion of finding new ways to lower methane emissions on farms - through both feed efficiencies and new technologies.

His latest venture is a "Super Ewe" - where he's using genetics to create a dual purpose sheep through focusing on muscle and fat in the selection process.

In this episode Mark Wootton shares his insights on:

•Using Sheep Freeze Brand (liquid nitrogen) as an alternative to mulesing.

•Turning sustainable agriculture practices into a driver for productivity and profits.

•The importance of flexibility in farming operations.

•Finding the right times to make big decisions for your business.

Want to know more? Check out our blog and additional resources from the episode on our website.

Karmen Mehmen is a corn and soybean farmer in Iowa alongside her husband Stan and their son Kyle and daughter-in-law Kerri. Their farm, MBS Family Farms, has grown from 160 acres and 40 cows back in the '60s to an operation that today supports 20 families.

In this episode, Karmen talks about:

•How technology has enabled them to manage through substantial growth

•Learnings from transitioning the farm to the next generation

•How structured coaching and support has helped them become better farmers & business owners

For more insights from the episode and links to resources Karmen mentions, check out our write up here.

Renée Anderson is a farmer in Emerald, Queensland, Nuffield Scholar, agronomist, and overall champion for the cotton industry. In this episode, she shares her insights from Australia and around the world on social license, science communications, and the role that tech can play in helping farmers both improve production and change the narrative about agriculture.

Visit our website for our top five insights, Renee's favorite science communicators, and the resources on racism in agriculture mentioned at the end of this episode.

David Carter is the CEO of Austral Fisheries, one of Australia's largest integrated commercial fishing companies. Austral Fisheries is notable for being the only commercial fishing company in the world to be certified Carbon Neutral, offsetting their emissions to zero since 2016.

In this episode we talk about:

•David's path from deckhand to CEO

•Austral's journey from commodity to branded, premium product

•The bold goals that Austral have set on issues like bycatch and carbon emissions

•How technology is helping Austral respond to consumer demands and address social license issues

•The 'unlikely alliances' powering Austral Fisheries' market leading position

For the resources mentioned and more on David, visit our website:

www.agtechsowhat.com/agtechsowhatepisodes/david-carter-carbon-neutral-fishing

This episode, live from the 2020 evokeAG conference in Melbourne, features three innovative Aussie producers: Brad "Jonesy" Jones; Sue "Chilla" Middleton; and Mark "Mort" Mortimer.

We also cover:

•the different techs being used in their businesses today

•their tech wishlists for the future

•what's driving adoption of agtech and what's preventing it

•where to look for the best agtech solutions

•how they're getting involved as more than customers of agtech

For links to additional resources (and all the agtech mentioned), check out our website: www.agtechsowhat.com/agtechsowhatepisodes/tips-from-leading-producers

This is yet another live episode- do you like it? Hate it? Let us know on twitter @agtechsowhat or reach out on our website.

Today's episode is all about corporate investments and acquisitions in agtech. Two guests, Derek Norman (VP at Leaps by Bayer) and Jim Chambers (President and General Manager of the Worldwide Agriculture Business at Trimble) cover different ways startups can engage with corporates, from early stage direct strategic investments, to channel partnerships, to acquisitions.

We also discuss:

•what Bayer and Trimble are looking for and tips for startup to get investment- and acquisition-ready

•how the M&A environment is changing with consolidation and coronavirus

•why we haven't we seen more successful agtech exits

•what spaces are hot (and not), including how Bayer and Trimble are looking at autonomy, e-commerce, biologicals, indoor agriculture, and more

This episode was recorded LIVE at an event we co-hosted with Tim Hammerich, host of the Future of Agriculture podcast. If you're not yet a FoA listener, check out episode 201 featuring AgThentic Partner Matthew Pryor.

•Tim's interview with Derek: 2:00 to 26:18

•Sarah's interview with Jim: 26:18 to 49:48

•QnA with both Jim and Derek: 49:48 to end

What do you think of this format? Do you want more live events, or partnerships with more podcasts? Please reach out!

More resources and links available on the AgTech...So What? website.

Coming to you live from Australia's first national, virtual AgTech Meetup, this episode explores what alternative proteins are, how big they'll become, and whether this is a pending disruption or untapped opportunity for agriculture.

Panelists included:

•Catherine Tubb- chemistry PhD and Research Fellow at RethinkX

•Paul Wood- internationally recognized veterinary immunologist, inventor, and Chairman at AusBiotech

•George Peppou- chef and CEO/Co-founder at cellular ag company VOW Foods

In this episode, we cover:

•The different types of alternative proteins, from plant-based to cultured meat;

•What's driving their cost, and when it will come down;

•When they'll hit the market, and how much market share they'll get; and

•What all this means for farmers, investors, and consumers.

This meetup was co-hosted by us (AgThentic) alongside SproutX and Platfarm.

Check out our website for the live video, slides, and more resources.

This week Sarah is joined by a guest host, Cass Mao, Principal Advisor at AgThentic, to chat with Pete Nelson of AgLaunch about how growers and agtech companies can work together in a model that they call "farmer-centric innovation"

Pete Nelson, originally a farmer and an English major at University, has been actively involved in building the support ecosystem for new agricultural enterprises for over 15 years. He has worked with a variety of public and private sector partners and helped to launch multiple startup companies. More recently he's been working on sector-specific initiatives to fund, incubate, and accelerate agricultural companies with high growth potential.

AgLaunch, which includes accelerator programs, a fund, and more, is focused on commercializing early stage agricultural innovation by working with farmers.

Cass and Sarah wanted to speak with Pete after writing a report last year on innovation ecosystems, and how best practices in the US can be applied to Australia. Rather than just look at hotspots like Silicon Valley, the report explored ag-focused places, like St. Louis and Tennessee, where AgLaunch is located. The report, called Building a globally Recognised AgTech ecosystem in Australia, is available here: https://agthentic.com/reports

In this episode, Pete explains what "farmer-centric innovation" means, how AgLaunch is driving it, and how having growers at the table fundamentally changes outcomes for startups and regional communities.

For additional resources and info, check out our blog: www.agtechsowhat.com/agtechsowhatepisodes/2020/4/8/ep-64-pete-nelson-on-partnering-with-growers-to-build-better-agtech

Evan Fraser is a food systems innovation expert, the Director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph in Canada, and the Founder of Feeding9Billion.

Though he didn't grow up on a farm, he brings a multi-disciplinary and systems approach to his work, with degrees and work experience in various fields from anthropology to atmospheric chemistry to agriculture. His passion for agriculture comes from his love of good food and summers spent spent working on his grandfather's farm (more on that in the episode).

In this episode, Evan and I cover two main topics:

•Three big barriers to agtech adoption, and what's being done to overcome them; and

•The impact of COVID-19 on agricultural supply chains.

Thanks to Connie Bowen for suggesting Evan. We're always open to suggestions and feedback from our listeners!

Additional Links and Resources

•Arrell Food Institute (check out the videos and card game!)

•Feeding9Billion

•Evan on Twitter

•Evan on LinkedIn

•More thoughts from Evan on COVID-19

•Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations (Evan's book)

•Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN)

We hear all the time that we need to "feed the world" and that "agtech can help" But what role will indoor farming play? How do these systems work, what can they grow, and how do they make money?

Today's guest, Allison Kopf, is an agtech entrepreneur and indoor ag expert. Her company, Artemis, builds software for indoor farms and specialty crops. In this episode, rebroadcast (with updates and edits) from a couple years ago, Allison shares an indoor ag 101.

We also cover the challenges for women in agtech, and how we can increase gender diversity in big and small ways. Happy (belated) International Women's Day to all our female listeners.

Resources and Links

•Artemis (formerly Agrilyst)

•Allison's Forbes 30 under 30 interview

•2017 State of Indoor Ag Report

•List of women in agtech that Allison started (and some press on it here)

•Allison and Artemis on twitter